LOS ANGELES — As 2015 begins, a handful of Knicks, including Shane Larkin, Cleanthony Early and Quincy Acy, have vowed to lead cleaner, healthier lives. They have resolved to no longer eat pork.

“It’s bad for you,” Early said, adding that he had been considering the change for some time and was following the lead of the veterans Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire.

As the Knicks closed 2014 in fitting fashion, with a 99-78 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, there are many things they can be resolute about changing in the new year besides staying away from ham sandwiches.

They could, for example, develop an offense that functions, a defense that occasionally defends, and a roster that does not resemble a cast of misfit toys.

Despite the promise of a fresh start, the New Year’s Eve game at Staples Center displayed the Knicks’ continuing problems. Although Andrea Bargnani returned from calf and hamstring injuries to play his first game of the season, J. R. Smith (foot) returned from a 10-game absence, and Anthony started after being bothered by a sore knee, the Knicks looked much the way they had all season, and their record fell to 5-29.

After a modestly competitive first half, the Clippers scored the first 13 points of the second half, removing any suspense. The Knicks have lost nine games in a row and 19 of their last 20.

“It’s definitely a test for me,” said Anthony, who scored 19 points on 7-of-18 shooting from the field and was the only player in double figures for the Knicks. He did not play in the fourth quarter.

“I’ve never been in this situation, being 5-29,” Anthony said. “That’s a test alone, to come in every day and still be motivated and still be positive and still keep a smile on your face despite everything that’s happening, with us losing basketball games and injuries and things we’re dealing with.”

Coach Derek Fisher did not emerge from the locker room until 30 minutes after the game, far longer than the N.B.A. mandates, and only after several players had showered, dressed and headed for the team bus.

Fisher said there was no particular reason he had taken so long.

“The only reason we come out to talk is because it’s mandatory,” Fisher said. “So I was done talking to the team, talking to the coaches. This is my job. When I’m ready to talk, I come out.”

Asked if he had met afterward with the Knicks’ president, Phil Jackson, who was at the game, Fisher said: “No. Phil’s not a coach. Did you guys see him walk in? We don’t meet right after the game. Sorry to disappoint you guys.”

It was the first appearance by Jackson at a Knicks road game this season. Staples Center is a modest commute from his home in Playa del Rey, a beach community near Los Angeles International Airport.

He sat not far from the Knicks’ bench in the first half and followed the team toward the tunnel to the locker room at halftime. Jackson then retreated to a suite where he joined his fiancée, the Lakers executive Jeanie Buss, and Linda Rambis, the wife of the Knicks assistant coach Kurt Rambis, to watch the second half.

The last time Jackson saw the Knicks play here was last March, when they were humiliated by the Lakers, with whom Jackson won five titles as a coach. Fisher was a player on those teams.

Several players said that Fisher remained even-tempered when he met with the team afterward and that the message was familiar.

“He said you’ve got to stay together and keep working,” Larkin said. “That’s really all you can say at this point. We didn’t play well today, offensively, defensively.”

The notion that Bargnani, the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2006, might give the Knicks a jolt was short-lived. With 5 minutes 24 seconds left in the first quarter, he checked in for the first time since Jan. 22. He moved his feet surprisingly well on defense, outfought an opponent for an offensive rebound and sank a jumper.

Then Bargnani did as he has often done throughout his career: He shot an air ball; fumbled away a defensive rebound to Jordan Farmar, who sank a 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer; and clattered into J. J. Redick while Redick was trying a 3-pointer.

“Eleven, 12 months is a very long time,” Bargnani said. “You have rust sitting on the bench for a whole year.”

As the Knicks left the locker room, the only hope that seemed to exist was that the new year could not be any worse than the last one.

“I don’t really like doing the New Year’s resolutions,” Anthony said just before he headed out the door. “But I just want 2015 to be better than 2014.”

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page B8 of the New York edition with the headline: Before Ball Drops, the Knicks Continue Their Own Descent. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe